Police charge Solon men in armed home invasion

SKOWHEGAN – Police have arrested two men in an armed home invasion on Oak Street last week.

Daniel Laweryson, 27, of Solon is charged with Class A felony burglary and Class B felony aggravated assault for allegedly being the man with the gun in the incident, which police said had its roots in a drug deal rip-off. Joshua August, 31, also of Solon, is charged with felony burglary.

Police Chief Michael Emmons said that on his way to the crime scene, police Sgt. Joel Cummings saw a white 1999 Plymouth Breeze leaving the area and took notice of the vanity license plate — “August.”

“That’s good work; that’s what you’d like them (officers) to do. It puts pieces of the puzzle together,” the chief said.

Emmons and Detective Kelly Hooper said two men, dressed in dark clothing and wearing black ski masks, broke into a ground-floor apartment just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 16.

The men allegedly were looking to recover $500 that one of them had given to the woman who lives in the apartment to buy prescription drugs. Police said the woman apparently kept the money and did not deliver the drugs.

The man who lives at the apartment was slightly injured in a scuffle during the incident.

The .38-caliber handgun allegedly used in the burglary was recovered by police, Emmons said, but not the money.

Hooper said the woman from the apartment allegedly met August and Laweryson during the Skowhegan State Fair and had agreed to deliver prescription drugs in exchange for cash. The woman was dropped off at a local motel and was supposed to return with the drugs.

She didn’t.

“She had no intentions of ever picking drugs up; she had a car waiting for her on the Russell Road to picked her up after,” Hooper said.

Police said the woman split the money with a friend and went home to Oak Street.

August and Laweryson also are charged with criminal mischief for damaging the apartment by cutting the telephone and power lines to the building and for allegedly breaking a window and cutting a screen.

The victims of the home invasion have not been charged. Both Laweryson and August are free on bail.

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